1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of installing an image processing apparatus control program in a host apparatus to control an image processing apparatus with which the host apparatus communicates via a network. The invention also relates to a communication program for implementing the invented method, and a network printer including the invented communication program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's workplaces, it is commonplace for a host apparatus such as a personal computer to send image processing commands to an image processing device such as a printer through a network. In preparation, it is generally necessary to install an image processing apparatus control program such as a printer driver in the host apparatus, make settings related to features and options of the image processing apparatus, and select the host output port used by the image processing apparatus control program.
Since printer drivers and other image processing apparatus control programs are updated from time to time, the user of the host apparatus would prefer to use the latest program version. One recent method of enabling this to be done is to store printer drivers, for example, in an administrative server connected to the network, where the driver software can be kept up to date easily. The host apparatus, operating as a client, accesses the administrative server by specifying its uniform resource locator (URL: an address that indicates the location of the server on the network) and reads and displays a list of available network printers. The user selects the printer he or she wants to use on the basis of its model name, internet protocol (IP) address, or other information, and downloads the corresponding printer driver, thereby obtaining the latest version of the printer driver.
A way to simplify the tasks of installing a printer driver in a host apparatus and making settings related to the printer's features and options is also known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-190167): a special communication application program is stored in the host apparatus; when the host apparatus is connected to a network, the communication application program automatically searches for the administrative server on the network, then obtains a list of printers and printer drivers that the host apparatus can use from the administrative server and displays information such as the printers' model names and IP addresses on a display at the host apparatus; when the user selects one of the printers on the basis of the displayed information and enters a printing command for the printer, the application communication program determines whether a printer driver for the selected printer is already installed, and if it is not, automatically downloads the printer driver from the administrative server and executes the printing process.
If the communication application program is stored in the host apparatus and operates as above, however, when selecting the printer, the user is confronted with a confusingly large amount of displayed information, including IP addresses and printer model names that the user may have never known or already forgotten, and technical information about features and options that the user may not clearly understand. To select the right printer from this information is often beyond the user's ability; the user is forced to call for assistance.